Click the image to see an enlarged version (courtesy IsraelDefense.com)
Here you can see before/after satellite photos of the Iranian Parchin nuclear development facility which recently was the location of a huge explosion in which at least two workers were killed.
Parchin is the place where the Iranians are suspected of working on detonators for nuclear devices. International inspectors have asked to be admitted to the facility several times and have been turned down.
There has been speculation that the explosion may have been a ‘work accident’, sabotage, or even an air strike.
Satellite images of the Parchin area, to the east of Tehran, prove: the explosion reported by the Iranian media had, indeed, occurred inside the military compound in Parchin, where, according to western intelligence agencies, trials are being conducted on nuclear missile fuzes. Satellite images obtained by Israel Defense and analyzed by specialist Ronen Solomon clearly show damage consistent with an attack against bunkers in a central locality within the military research complex at the Parchin military compound.
The locality in question is situated at the center of the compound, adjacent to another installation where, according to intelligence sources, the trials being conducted involve controlled detonation of fuzes intended to serve as triggers for nuclear devices. The locality consists of a sizable testing center and what appears to be an area with bunker-shaped structures. “Before and after” images indicate that a complete section of structures was simply eliminated by an unexplained explosion.
The explosion wiped several testing units off the face of the earth while inflicting collateral damage on adjacent buildings, with traces of fire clearly visible in a section located in a sparsely afforested area.
It’s possible that burning material thrown off from the main explosion ignited the structures in the small circle and the field between them. But in that case it’s strange that there is no similar damage apparent anywhere else outside the large circle. Could this be an indication that the damage was indeed caused by a deliberate attack, and the buildings in the small circle were a secondary target?
I don’t know. But if it were an attack and Israel was responsible, then we can shortly expect leaks from the Obama Administration to that effect!
It is possible that this explosion was done to expose the kind of work being done at Parchin, namely the ‘weaponization’ work. This is the speculation of Ron Ben- Yishai that the explosion may reveal the true face of the Iranian program.
But then the real face of that program is probably already known by the Western powers.
Another question, is whether this explosion was simply a disturbance or constitutes a real setback to the Iranian program.